August saw the return of Ligue 1 and with it, excellent
football, quality goals, new managers and plenty of controversial moments. As
expected PSG are the only side in the league with a perfect record having won
their opening 4 games while Guingamp, Bordeaux and Angers make up the bottom 3.
Thomas Tuchel has made the perfect start in charge of PSG winning his opening 4 league games.
Tuchel’s side have been very dominant so far beating Caen, Guingamp, Angers and
Nimes. Tuchel has also unlocked Neymar with the Brazilian starting the season brilliantly
notching 4 goals in the opening month of the season. PSG are expected to dominate
and certainly Tuchel has bigger fish to fry in September with the Champions
League getting under way. It has also been a terrific start to the season for Dijon and Toulouse. Olivier Dall’Oglio will be delighted with their start to
the season with Dijon winning their opening 3 games against Montpellier, Nantes
and Nice however, they ended the month with defeat against Caen but overall Dall’Oglio
will be delighted and will want that momentum to continue going into September.
Toulouse have also started excellently since they were smashed 4-0 Marseille on
the opening weekend. Alain Casanova’s side have picked winning 3 straight
league games including the derby with Bordeaux. It has been an excellent
opening month for Toulouse’s new manager and he will want that good momentum to
continue in September with their next being against Monaco.
The two promoted sides have certainly made an impression in
the opening month with Nimes and Reims both collecting 6 points from
their opening 4 games and they lie in mid-table. Reims impressed winning their
opening 2 games including a win against Lyon while Nimes have also shown signs
they are here to stay winning their opening 2 including a brilliant win over
Marseille. However, both sides have lost their last 2 games and will be hopeful
of re-capturing their early season form in September. Nimes kick off September
with a trip to Bordeaux while Reims go to Nantes.
Despite their difficult financial issues, it has been a fantastic
start to the season for Lille.
Christophe Galtier’s side sit in 4th with 7 points from their
opening 4 games including victories over Rennes and Guingamp as well as an
excellent away draw against Monaco. Lille are battling Financial Fair Play, but
credit must go to Galtier who has built a team on a small budget and let big
players like Ibrahim Amadou, Vincent Enyeama, Yassine Benzia and Yves Bissouma
leave the club. It is one of their new signings Jonathan Bamba who has caught
the eye. The young winner left St Etienne in the summer and joined Lille on a
free and has been a breath of fresh air notching 3 goals in 4 matches and has
delighted the Lille fans with his performances. Both he and his club will want
to carry their momentum in September especially with the derby against Amiens
coming up.
Marseille, Rennes and
Montpellier have also made strong starts notching 7 points from their
opening 4 games leaving them in 5th, 6th and 7th
respectively. Rudi Garcia’s Marseille have been inconsistent in their performances
so far dominating Toulouse on the opening weekend before a very poor defeat
against Nimes. But they ended the month with a dramatic late win in the derby
with Monaco and no doubt Garcia will be delighted with his side’s spirit to
fight back to win the game and he will want Marseille’s Champions League push
to continue in September when the season really gets underway. Sabri Lamouchi’s
Rennes have also started well, and he will be confident his side can continue
their good form going into September. Rennes have won both home games this
season without conceding and Lamouchi will be satisfied. He will also be pleased
with a solid draw at Stade Velodrome against Marseille. Lamouchi will also be
confident Hatem Ben Arfa will be a key player after he signed until the end of
the season. Montpellier are on a 3-match unbeaten run since their opening day
defeat to Dijon. Michel Der Zakarian’s side have won both away games and struggled
at game losing and drawing to St Etienne. Der Zakarian will want their home
form to improve in September when they face Strasbourg.
It has been a disappointing start for bitter rivals Lyon and
St Etienne both locked on 6 points in the top half. While they are unbeaten in
their opening 4 games, St Etienne have certainly not set the world alight with
just one win against Guingamp. 3 draws have followed including back to back goalless
draws and Jean Louis Gasset needs his team to start firing if they are going to
challenge for European places, but they face a tricky game against PSG next. In
contrast, Lyon are showing major inconsistencies with a win and a defeat both
home and away. So far when conceding first Lyon have failed to comeback and even
score. But when they have scored first this season, they have won and kept a
clean sheet. Genesio’s side were poor against Nice and they must bounce back starting
against Caen. Like Lyon, it has been a disappointing start for last seasons’ runners-up
Monaco with Leonardo Jardim sitting in 13th place with just 4 points
from their opening 4 games. Jardim has once again lost key players to arguably
bigger clubs and he must replace them which is always extremely difficult. His new
look team are struggling to gel. They are winless in 3 including 2 straight
defeats to Bordeaux and Marseille. Jardim has done a sensational job but it
could be his toughest season to date in charge of the principality side.
It has been a difficult start to the season for Guingamp and
Antoine Kombouare. Guingamp are the only side without a point so far having lost
all 4 of their league games so far. However, despite their poor start, Kombouare
will be confident things will improve and his future is certainly secure having
signed a new deal during August. He will be disappointed with their start but
he will believe September will be the month where their season begins but they
face a tricky trip to Marseille in their next league game. It has also been a
disappointing start for Bordeaux with the club sitting 19th and Gus
Poyet resign after the sale of Gaetan Laborde to Montpellier. Things have been
tough on the pitch too with 3 defeats from 4 but they did secure a place in the
group stages of the Europa League. Francois Kamano has been their star on the
pitch so far notching all 3 of Bordeaux goals including 2 in the win over
Monaco but their league form has been flat overall. However, despite their disappointing
start, there are plenty of reasons to be positive as the club has new owners
following a successful takeover and a new manager in Ricardo Gomes who joins
from Brazilian football. The fans will hope September is where Bordeaux’s
season ignites. Gomes is relatively unknown and must start well to install the
belief in the fans. His first game will be against Nimes before a trip to the Czech
Republic in the Europa League. The final side making up the bottom 3 is Angers
with 3 points in their opening 4 games. Angers lost their opening 3 games but a
win over Lille to finish the month will no doubt have eased the pressure on Stephane
Moulin from the fans and board. Angers are a small club and no doubt survival
is the target each season but a slow start to a season can cost teams and they
have started slowly but Moulin will hop the win over Lille takes them forward
nicely going into September.
Nice, Nantes and Caen all appointed new managers in the
summer and all 3 clubs lie in the bottom half after the opening month of the
season. It has been a tough start for Patrick Vieira at Nice with the club
sitting in 17th with just 4 points. Nice sold Jean Michael Seri,
Alassane Plea and Maxime Le Marchand and these players were vital to the club
and so far, their presence has been missed with Myzaine Maolida not making the
best impression so far as Nice’s new striker while Nice have struggled
defensively. They have also struggled at home losing both matches without
scoring including a shock 4-0 defeat to Dijon. However, since then Nice have gone
2 games unbeaten and finished the month well with a win over Lyon. Miguel
Cardoso has also struggled at Nantes so far also collecting 4 points from his opening
4 games. However, like Nice, Nantes head into September on the back of a win
over Strasbourg. Cardoso has got a very good tune out of Emiliano Sala with the
Argentine notching 3 goals in 4 games including the vital winner against
Strasbourg. Fabian Mercadal has made the best start out of these 3 new managers
with Caen sitting in 12th with 5 points from their opening 4 and
only one defeat against PSG. They are also unbeaten in 3 since their opening weekend
defeat. Mercadal will be satisfied overall but knows Caen must continue to improve.
Last seasons’ new sides Amiens and Strasbourg both have collected 4 points from
their opening 4 games and both at times have showed elements of second season
syndrome. They both magnificently survived last season, and both go into this
with the same intention of staying in the league once again. Moussa Konate was
excellent for Amiens last season and has started this campaign in good form
notching 3 goals in the opening month and he will be crucial to their season
once again. Amiens have the perfect game in a derby against Lille to kick off
September and they will be confident of beating their rivals once again.
September will no doubt bring more excellent football and quality
goals and the odd moment of controversy. There are some tasty games to come in
September including Amiens vs Lille, Rennes vs PSG, Lyon vs Marseille, Bordeaux
vs Lille, St Etienne vs Monaco, Nice vs PSG and Lille vs Marseille. So, expect
plenty of good football and excellent goals as September gets underway and we could
also begin to see where each teams’ seasons could end up going.
No comments:
Post a Comment